Confuzzled Morality

There is nothing unusual about moral complexity. Women -- and men -- live with it every day. It is what it means to be a human person. We are in favor of a woman's right to decide when she will give the gift of life; after all, gifts must be freely given. We love life and want to act in its interest, and so we are in favor of supporting women's own desire not to become pregnant when they do not wish to bring a child into the world, we strongly support the right of every woman to continue a difficult but wanted pregnancy, and we will do everything we can to support her economically and emotionally.

It is time to change that. A moral discourse that calls on individuals to act responsibly toward the creation of life cannot be separated from a call for social justice -- including measures like those in the Ryan-DeLauro bill which affirm that it is not women alone who are responsible for respecting life, but government as well.

This is exactly where I stand on abortion - and it is a position I have held through most of my life. Abortion was a popular topic of debate in high school and college and Roe v Wade was at the very center. I've argued and won on both sides. But as a personal choice, I am pro-life. I wish for others to have the same freedom to make that choice. If they choose otherwise, that is to terminate a pregnancy, adequate support and facilities must be made available to them by the government. Further to that, I firmly believe also you need to be smart enough to not get yourself knocked up if you're going to fuck around. Okay, let me rephrase that. People who engage in sex for reasons outside its original purpose must take steps to ensure that it does not turn into an act of procreation.

I refuse to talk about morality with my mother for fear of sending her straight to the ER for a heart attack. If she only knew where I stand on most things, she would be going to mass more than once a day. Too many people live their lives by other people's morals and standards. If you stacked up mine against the norms a catholic school girl must have - I should be in the 9th level of hell. They are ambiguous and flexible at best - mostly guided by a sense of tolerance and respect of free will. [The rest of my life, I try to live using the Four Agreements.]

Thankfully, sufficient education has afforded me the ability to be able to decide for myself where I stand on most things. I believe in the death penalty. Homosexuals are fabulous people. I like foie gras but I won't wear fur [it's too expensive, makes you look fat and it's a bitch to maintain]. I believe in lying and cheating when justified. [Though, I must admit, I am too good at justifying things I do]. Some other things, I have no stand or opinion. Maybe I haven't gotten around to trying to wrap my mind around those things yet.

I am no great thinker or philosopher. But, I'd like to believe that I think. To loosely quote someone famous : I think therefore this is the way I am.